Overall ? Project Summary The University of Kansas Cancer Center (KUCC) is a matrix cancer center that includes: the University of Kansas Medical Center campuses in Kansas City, Wichita and Salina, the University of Kansas in Lawrence and via consortium agreement, the Stowers Institute for Medical Research and Children's Mercy Kansas City. In 2015, 187 members of KUCC accounted for $13.4M of NCI funding and a total of $61.2M in overall cancer- related funding, an increase of $10M during the previous funding period. Roy A. Jensen, MD, who is supported by a strong, nationally recognized leadership team, leads KUCC. Over the last four years substantial progress has been made broadening partnerships with communities throughout the KUCC catchment area, boosting recruitment of physician-scientists, augmenting clinical research and early-phase clinical trials, advancing education for the next generation of scientists and health care providers and heightening influence for KUCC researchers in the national scientific community. KUCC has established four specific aims to ensure KUCC leads in the fight against cancer: 1. Leverage unique institutional and regional assets to become a leading academic institution for transforming discoveries from the laboratory into new anticancer drug therapies; 2. Provide the optimal environment to focus the power of precision medicine, basic science inquiry, drug discovery and development, and behavioral interventions to decrease cancer incidence, morbidity and mortality; 3. Be a nationally recognized leader in partnering with key stakeholders, community advocates and regional leaders to develop, promote, and foster the adoption and implementation of research-based cancer prevention, diagnosis, treatment, control, and survivorship practices throughout the KUCC catchment area to mitigate the impact of cancer; and 4. Provide leadership in envisioning, developing and implementing a thoughtful, comprehensive strategy to educate the next generation of physician-scientists and allied investigators in cancer research, treatment, prevention and control. To accomplish these goals KUCC has four research programs: Cancer Biology, Cancer Control and Population Health, Cancer Prevention and Survivorship, and Drug Discovery, Delivery and Experimental Therapeutics. In addition, KUCC supports the Clinical Trials Office, five established shared resources - Biospecimen, Biostatistics and Informatics, Clinical Pharmacology, Lead Development and Optimization and Transgenic and Gene-Targeting ? along with three developing shared resources ? Cell Authentication and Pathogen Screening, Health Communications Research and Nutrition.